Madras High Court Fines Enforcement Directorate ₹30K For Failing To File Counter Affidavits In PMLA Case

The Madras High Court, on Wednesday (August 6) imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 each in three petitions filed by film producer Akash Bhaskaran and businessman Vikram Ravindran against the ED's search conducted at their residence and office. The bench of Justice MS Ramesh and Justice V Laksminarayanan noted that the court, in the previous hearing, had granted more time to the directorate to file a counter as a last opportunity. Thus, when the Special Prosecutor sought additional time for filing a counter today, the court said that it would grant time but would also impose a fine on the directorate. Thus, the court imposed Rs. 10K fine each on the three petitions and granted two weeks' time for the directorate to file its counter. The producer and the businessman had moved the court challenging the ED Action. It was alleged that the ED had sealed the residential flat and the office of the petitioners since it was locked at the time of the search. The court had then directed the Directorate to produce the documents based on which the ED had initiated the action. On perusing the documents, the court held that the authorisation based on which the ED had conducted searches at the offices and residences of the petitioners was prima facie without jurisdiction since there was no incriminating material against them. The court also observed that the materials produced by the ED had no semblance of any information on which the ED had decided to take action against the petitioners. The court had thus stayed all proceedings initiated by the ED against the petitioners. When the petition was taken up today, the petitioners also argued that there was nothing to link them to the corruption cases involving the TASMAC case. It was submitted that the only material available with the ED was that the petitioner's number was saved in the mobile phone belonging to the Managing Director of TASMAC. It was further submitted that there was no evidence to show that calls or WhatsApp messages were sent by the petitioners to the persons connected with the case. Special Prosecutor for ED, N Ramesh, while seeking additional time for filing the counter submitted that the Directorate wanted to file a comprehensive counter for which some more time was required. It was also submitted that some of the officers had been transferred and new officers were managing the case. The court, however, did not accept this submission and said that it could permit additional time only after imposing fine. Case Title: Akash Baskaran v. The Joint Director Case No: WP Crl 71 of 2025

Madras High Court Fines Enforcement Directorate ₹30K For Failing To File Counter Affidavits In PMLA Case

Upasana Sajeev

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